To me the design is a little blah, but I generally like the potential use case.  I very much enjoy using a pair of A1's in stereo, but have long thought that they could be improved for stereo imaging if the design was stand up vs. flat (I've hung them and that works decently well, but it's not a practical avenue for many listening locations).  As such, even as a current owner of something similar, I'm interested in this.

That being said, I think I'll need to see final spec details, in addition of course to hearing it in person, before making final judgment.  What's been posted here suggests a dual sided A1 at the price point of an A2, at a physical size in between those 2 but with shorter battery life than both of those.  If that's all true, it will be interesting to see how they position it in the line if they continue selling both of the others.  

For me, the use case(?) is similar to the other Beoplay speakers in that it's another 360degree speaker that cannot be put on a shelf too near to a wall. What's wrong with creating a flat speaker for the kitchen or even bathroom?

Simonbeo wrote:

For me, the use case(?) is similar to the other Beoplay speakers in that it's another 360degree speaker that cannot be put on a shelf too near to a wall. What's wrong with creating a flat speaker for the kitchen or even bathroom?

Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8 , MX 5500 . Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.

The P speaker currently in the range is single sided but this looks double sided? (360 degrees )

It seems clear they feel like the dual sided "360" feature is an important selling point for this kind of speaker.  To me it's less useful and I would also prefer the ability to have a software setting that would allow for toggling single vs dual sided for a cleaner focus on sound from one side.  I do recognize, however, that for the vast, vast majority of buyers, they're acquiring just one and therefore the omnidirectional nature is attractive.  I can also see how the settings toggle sounds like a good idea, but might create far more complexity in terms of how that translates to design and, of course, customer service headaches for people who accidentally hit the toggle and then think the speaker is broken.  

That being said, if the bass performance is on par with the A1's, I'll likely jump in with 2 for stereo and just roll with the rear dispersion.  My uses are almost always in free space, so I don't have to deal with close rear wall reflections.  Some of the enjoyment is sitting down in a part of the house of the outdoor patio space where I haven't created an dedicated stereo speaker setup for that seating position, but where it really shines is travel.  In that use case, I can take a quality audio solution with me that is totally wireless such that wherever I stay I can more fully enjoy listening.  

Simonbeo wrote:

the designers do try /forum/general-discussion-and-questions/cecilie-manz-interview-in-dezeen

but marketing will drip feed all the exciting ideas. Having said that, I've been in market research with car customers and it's pretty dispiriting when they say all they want is a dark grey interior.

Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8 , MX 5500 . Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.

Saint Beogrowler wrote:

I've wished I could selectively turnoff one side of my A2 so I could hang it on a wall Peter-

Chris Townsend wrote:

Ive been asking that for years. Releasing more female friendly products in......battleship grey!

50 shades of gray even! 😉

Hiort wrote:

My A2 hangs in my bathroom.

No problem.

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